'Peeping Tom' Reported Near North Point Mall: Police

ALPHARETTA, GA — A woman shopping at Nordstrom Rack in Alpharetta said she caught a man trying to use his cell phone to record her while she was in a fitting room near North Point Mall. Officers were dispatched around 2:33 p.m. Thursday Jan. 18 to the store at 6200 North Point Parkway and met with the victim, who said she thought "someone was recording her in the dressing room."

According to an incident report released by the Alpharetta Department of Public Safety, the 22-year-old woman said that while she was in the dressing room, she noticed a pair of black working boots and dark pants that "were down and a dark cell phone in between someone (sic) legs."

The camera side of the phone, she added, was facing her, so she texted her mother to express her concern. As the mother was going into the dressing room, she said she walked passed a man with facial hair who was wearing a white hat and white shirt. She told the police she reported the alleged incident to store staff, but "said she did not like their response," so she called officers.

The manager on duty told the officers that store cleaners are coming and going from the fitting rooms and restrooms throughout the day. She did say one cleaner was in the fitting room area at the time of the incident. Police approached the man, who said he was in the area at the time, but did not record anyone.

"He allowed police to look at his recent pictures and videos in his iPhone," the report adds. "I did not see anything that related to the victim in his phone at that time."

An officer also checked the phone's deleted items section, but came up short. The cleaner, who had facial hair, was also wearing black boots, tan pants and a tan and gray shirt at the time of the incident.

A video camera positioned in the area in question showed the victim went into the dressing room around 2:20 p.m. and shortly after that, the male subject "did go into the fitting room as well," the report states. The woman's mother, who was sitting in a chair outside the fitting room, can be seen going into the fitting room after receiving the text. She's also seen passing the male subject, who left the area going towards the employee section at the back of the store.

An officer made note that the male "appeared to be looking over his right shoulder" and was carrying a white shirt or towel. To verify if the alleged action could be done in the way the woman described, the officer positioned himself inside a fitting room with the phone in between his legs. According to the report, the reflection of the mirror inside the dressing room allows the cell phone's camera to record a person in the next dressing room from the waist down.

"Also, the view of the cell cannot be seen unless the victim (bends) down," the report indicates.

According to the report, police did not have enough information to take the male subject into custody, so the woman, her mother and the loss prevention staff were all told that detectives will be following up on the incident.

Image via Shutterstock